Compassion
by Satan's Sweeties
Summary: Sayu's been kidnapped and stuck in a room by herself. She's cold, she's scared, and she's giving up hope of being saved. Just when she thinks she's hit rock bottom, a warm heart and a gentle touch are enough to keep her hopes alive.


It's cold.

She doesn't have shoes anymore and they took her socks, probably believing that she'd find some way to use those tubular, elastic articles of clothing to escape from the small, bleak, nearly-windowless room they've locked her away in. The walls are depressingly bare, and the only light showing its faux-cheery face comes from the dim bulb overhead and the small glass opening in the heavy metal door, just enough for the kidnappers (the "thugs," as she's mentally dubbed them) to peek in and check on her.

It's been long enough that the unforgiving stone floors have numbed her toes to oblivion, but she still pulls her knees up to her chest and wraps her arms around herself as if there's any hope left in the world. From her perspective, she's the only one left in the so-called "hideout," as nobody's passed by for almost a day, according to her internal clock.

Rather pathetic, she thinks, that she's just about given up on everything, given up on any chance of being rescued. If anything, the saddest thing is that she's quite literally run out of tears, having spent them all in the first few hours of being caged away. She tries her damnedest to forget everything that's happened, to just imagine herself someplace safe, but every time she closes her eyes the only thing she sees is a pair of icy blue eyes that chill her to the core.

Her inner monologue is interrupted as her prison-like door is opened, and a figure enters before closing the door behind them. Into the dreary light walks a man—probably around her own age—she's never seen before, but she knows from experience that the further away she is, the better. She scrambles back into a corner as he kneels down in front of her, saying, "Osorenaide kowagaranaide," in almost flawless Japanese.

Damn, has it been so long that even her native language sounds foreign to her? "Who… who are you?" she responds in a quiet voice, the long-unused Japanese rolling off her tongue like an out-of-control SUV down a rocky cliff.

"My name is Matt." There it is, her mother tongue again. Is he actually _catering _to her? "I'm not going to hurt you. I promise."

He unfolds the blanket in his arms and wraps her in it while she just stares in confusion. "Why are you doing this?" she asks, grateful for the blanket but unsure of this 'Matt' character's motives. "Why are you being nice to me? The man with the scary eyes took my socks and shoes, but why are you giving me this blanket?"

"Mello's been a bit of a bully, hasn't he?" Is that the blue-eyed man's name? "He's not that bad a guy, once you get to know him. I'll be the first to admit that this whole thing is stupid, though." Matt sits down next her and allows her to lean her head on his shoulder as he gently pets dirty, greasy brunette locks. "I want out just as much as you do, Sayu. Trust me."

His touch is rather comforting, she decides, and it's a nice change from the hard stone floors and harder hearts of the thugs that kidnapped her. "If you don't want to be here, why do you stay?"

"Somebody's got to keep Mello from going crazy," he says in a lighthearted tone, a small smile creeping onto his lips. "Besides… I love him."

She snuggles more into Matt's shoulder, thankful that not everybody in this fucked-up little dungeon was lacking in the heart department. "Will you stay here with me?"

The smile falters. "I can't; actually, I'm not supposed to be in here in the first place, but you looked like you could use some friendly company. I should probably—"

A knocking on the door and a, "Matt, get your fucking ass out here _now_," interrupt his sentence.

He laughs uneasily. "Whoops, that's my cue."

When he opens the door, Mello is standing there with his arms crossed over his chest and a sneer plastered on his face. The blond pins the slightly-shorter brunet to the outside of the door and glares at him. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Matt? She's a fucking _hostage_, not a _guest_."

Sayu can hear him sigh. "She's scared, Mels. I thought it would be nice to show a little compassion and maybe show that not all of us are heartless bastards hell-bent on making her life a complete fucking mess. Have a heart, Mello."

"No. Having a heart means showing weakness, and I am not weak."

Another sigh. "You're not invincible either, so stop pretending like you are. You're capable of normal human emotions, no matter how hard you try to appear nonchalant and disinterested."

Something flashes in Mello's eyes and he whips around, walking away and throwing, "Chief Yagami is here. Make yourself useful and get the girl," over his shoulder. "And this time, don't be nice about it."


End file.
